The Epiphany
by jake09200100
Summary: Katniss moved away from her childhood best friend, Peeta Mellark, when she was 9 and hasn't spoken to him since. What will happen when she finds out that he's at the same college as her and he has something important to tell her... This is an Everlark AU. Rated 'M' for language and later adult themes.


**Disclaimer:** This FanFic is rated 'M' for language and possible adult themes. I do not own any of the characters of The Hunger Games.

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**Chapter 1 - Late:**

I've never been a lucky person. When I was only 9 years old, I moved away from my home town because my dad got promoted, which led to having to move into a new office and a new town 250 miles away. The worst thing about moving was leaving my one and only best friend behind: Peeta Mellark. We'd known each other since birth. Peeta is only 13 days older than me, which put us in the same year and class in school, but we met way before school because our fathers were such good friends. My parents were well known in our small town called district 12, my mother was a very well respected healer among the community and my father was the manager of the local mines. The last member of my family is Primrose, or Prim for short.  
She has my mothers wavy blonde hair, her stunning blue eyes, and the smile that could melt even the most coldest of hearts. She's 4 years younger than me and I love her more than anything, her bubbly personality is the complete opposite of my stubborn one which got me into heaps of trouble when I was younger.  
And then there's me. Katniss Everdeen. I have dark brown hair, stormy grey eyes and olive skin just like my dad. I love to hunt, it sounds strange considering we don't need the meat or pelts I collect from my adventures but the surreal atmosphere in the forests seems to calm me. It relieves the stresses of the day, and lets me be myself. My mother doesn't particularly approve of my hobby but she doesn't do anything to stop me due to my stubborn tendencies. It was my dad who taught me to hunt. He told me that I picked up a bow and shot a squirrel 50 meters away with a single arrow when I was only 7 years old, having never shot one before.  
When I mother found out, she yelled at my dad for leaving his bow and quiver lying around. She hates having them in the house because it 'makes the house feel like hostile territory and removes every sense of peace from the building!'. My dad just laughed and hugged her when she'd finished which just caused her to melt into his arms and relax. My parents met when they were in college and fell in love within a week of knowing each other. They've been together ever since and a year later she fell pregnant with me and then 9 months later I popped out in the bright new world. 17 years later here I am, late for college... wait, late for college!?

I quickly open my eyes and look at my clock on my bedside table. 8:27. _Shit!_ College starts at 8:50! _Shit, shit, shit!_ I quick rush out of bed and run into my bathroom where I brush my teeth and tie my hair up into a messy bun. Rushing back into my room, I quickly find some clean underwear, jeans and a t-shirt with a band on the front that I used to listen to about 2 years ago. If you haven't guessed already, I'm not exactly what most girls call 'fashion conscious'.

I quickly grab a cereal bar and my bag before running out the door, nearly forgetting to lock it behind me. College is only down the road to where my accommodation is so I power walk most of the way and jog just as I reach the main gate. By the time I get to the entrance, my watch already says 8:48 which means I have 2 minutes to spare. However, I still have to get to my classroom and since I've only ever been here a handful of times before, once to first look around and again a few times to enroll, I still have to find my lecture. I applied for this College as they had the Environmental Research course I wanted to take, and the facilities here and among the best in the state.  
It takes me about 5 minutes to find the right room and 10 seconds to compose myself before knocking on the door and opening it.

"Sorry I'm late. I got lost." I say as I close the door behind me. Every single pair of eyes in the room is on me. I am 90% sure my cheeks go red so I rush to find a seat near the back and next to a window.

"Ah, Miss... Everdeen," The lecturer replies as he looks up from his student list on his desk. "Glad you could join us. Now as I was saying..." The lecture continues for an hour and a half before it's time for a 15 minute break in which we have to sit in the classroom and either chat quietly or stay silent. Most of the other students here are talking in minutes, but I stay silent for the entire break, not even making eye contact with a single person but rather staring out of the window at the forest which surrounds one side of the college. Oh how I miss them. I haven't been into a forest for weeks as I've been so busy moving and unpacking my things into my new dorm room. The dorm rooms are pretty basic when you arrive. Each room has a cheap bed, a desk and chair with a desk lamp, a small wardrobe and a small bathroom with only a shower, toilet and sink.

My 2 neighbors are girls. Madge is in the room to my left and is studying to be a vet. She came round to my room not 30 seconds after I walked through my door for the first time to introduce herself. She seems nice enough, she has blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She's about 2 inches smaller than my 5"7' frame.  
The room to my right, houses a punk girl called Johanna. She has short black hair with purple spikes and dark brown eyes. She's confident but keeps herself to herself. By my standards, making 2 friends in the space of 5 minutes is a record. I was never good at making friends when I was little, I either didn't talk to anyone or I punched them because they bullied me, simple as that. My only other friend here is Gale. He's been my friend since I arrived in District 10, when I moved from District 12. He has jet black hair and grey eyes that aren't as stormy as my own. He's also gay, which is fine by me, and our personalities don't clash so we get on quite well. Unfortunately, his room is in another block of dorm rooms just around the corner of my own.

When the 15 break is over we exit the room and follow our lecturer to small lab just down the hall. The lab contains nifty gadgets for things that I've never even heard of. Some I've seen before, such as the microscopes and the Bunsen burners. Our lecturer gives us a run down of the lab and tells us we'll be using it every other lecture and for extra classes if the student requires them. He talks for about 15 minutes then shows us what the basic equipment does. This takes all but an hour to do so by the time we finish it's already 12:50: Lunch time.

There are multiple shops on campus to get food so I choose one at random and find a large tree to sit under to eat the ham sandwich I bought. I don't know why but I get the feeling that someone is watching me so I quickly do a scan of the vast amount of tables containing noisy students eating their lunches before finally looking into some bright blue eyes 25 meters just to my right. Blue eyes that match a mop of curly blonde hair. A combination that screams recognition. Recognition that makes my heart skip a beat.

It's him.


End file.
